Crane Mango Lassi Growler Release

We’ve really grown to LOVE Crane Brewing Company here at Mike’s. What’s not to love, though? They’re super awesome people making super tasty beer right in our backyard (via Raytown.) A few months ago we started talking with them about creating a special release beer for Mike’s. After some brainstorming, the beer was settled: a sour take on the popular Indian yogurt based drink, the Lassi, using Crane’s already stellar Berliner Weiss and Mangoes. It makes me feel beyond psyched to say that the beer... Mango Lassi, is here and ready for you to take home!

The actual mango lassi drink consists of a blend of yogurt, mango pulp and water. Occasionally spices may be added, and sometimes the concoction is topped with ground pistachios. The lassi is a great pairing for spicy dishes. The creaminess and sweetness help to cut the spice, and even the non-beer lassi has a nice tartness that will help to cleanse the palate.

We’re glad Crane’s version has alcohol though. The beer is brewed with Mangoes (about 20 pounds in this first three ¼ bbl. Keg batch) as well as vanilla beans and lactose. The ABV comes in at 4.3% ABV, right in line with many Berliners. The beer pours a hazy yellow with a quickly receding head. The nose is a pleasant blend of stone fruit and tropical citrus with a touch of minerality. The taste is a homerun. This beer is massively tart, with lots of fruit to back the tartness up. The mangoes in the beer actually taste like mango. The carbonation is very fine and doesn’t take over. The lactose and vanilla add a nice roundness and balance to the sourness. I could drink glass after glass after glass of this.

For this first run, we only received one quarter barrel keg per store. We’re tapping them all tomorrow for to-go growler sales. Crane will also be tapping a partial keg at their taproom for tasters, but if you want this beer in take-home format, you’ll have to come see us, Crane won’t be doing this for their crowler machine. We expect all three kegs to go very quickly, so don’t sleep on this!

What about bottles? Bottles are happening! We’re still waiting for the state label approval process to be completed, as you may have heard - that can take quite some time. The release format will be 375ml bottles, like the new Berry and Tea weiss releases. We expect to receive and to be able to sell bottles of this beer by late spring/early summer. All the more reason to come grab a growler preview now!

This beer was especially fun for me to contribute to, as the bottles will have label art designed by yours truly! Having done visual art for years, a beer label was a huge bucket list item that I was stoked to cross off my list. The artwork behind the glass/growler in the picture above is a portion of the larger piece used for the labels.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you get a chance to try the beer! If not, bottles will be here in a few months. Thanks again to our friends at Crane for all their help in making this happen, we love working with local craft producers! ...And stay tuned, we’ve been working on other exclusive collabs with local breweries and distilleries (barrels!) It’s going to be a tasty year here at Mike’s.